sheep breeder
Member
Just wondering what brand of ewe sponge people are using and how they are finding conception rates on the ones used.
Ewe sponges
- Thread starter sheep breeder
- Start date
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
Chronogest sponges with P.M.S.G in sheep that would probably be cycling or there abouts (Beltex in October). I've had 90, 91, 95 and 75% over the last 4 years. I'd suggest that there are more factors at play with ewes than the sponges. Except for last year my ewes were fit not fat and on good enough grass but not being actively flushed. Last year my ewes were fatter (c.s 4 ). I have to confess to small sample sizes though, no more than 30 ewes in a group and they are placid animals, frequently in contact with people and not stressed when handled. This year they were mated by tups, in years past they were A.I'd with fresh collected semen.
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
Is there any alternative to Chronogest sponges? Or are you asking sponges or CIDRs?
I much prefer CIDRs, but ovulation timing seems more variable (usually earlier ime). As a result I would use (Chronogest) sponges for AI work & ET donors, but always CIDRs where timing is less critical, like natural service or ET recipients.
sheep breeder
Member
Sorry for not getting back, we used morlamb sponge last year and no pms and hadn’t a great % on the first serve and a lot held on the repeat. Had used a teaser also. We mate with one ram to 10 to 12 ewes. This year trying to get as many on the first serve. Never used CIDRs.
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
Couple of questions @sheep breeder , were you religiously observant of sponge removal timings and introduction of the tup, did you let the tup stay with the ewes for 24hrs after you saw them mated?
Perhaps 10-12 ewes all screaming hot at the same time was just too much, yeah folk say a tup should cover that in a day but not in an hour and be expected to have many wee swimmers left. How about pulling half the sponges a day apart and halving the work load for the tup and letting him have a breather/recharge his batteries?
I run my tup with a couple of culls that have been sponged a fortnight before they are needed to clean out the tubes. It seems to work.
Perhaps 10-12 ewes all screaming hot at the same time was just too much, yeah folk say a tup should cover that in a day but not in an hour and be expected to have many wee swimmers left. How about pulling half the sponges a day apart and halving the work load for the tup and letting him have a breather/recharge his batteries?
I run my tup with a couple of culls that have been sponged a fortnight before they are needed to clean out the tubes. It seems to work.
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
What breed & time of year? If the ewes weren’t cycling naturally (teasers can only do so much), then they need PMSG too.
Were the rams experienced? If not, they could have wondered what the hell was going on when faced with a dozen horny ewes throwing themselves at him.
If they mostly came on at a 17 day repeat, I would suggest the sponges did there job of synchronising, they just didn’t get in lamb to that induced heat.
sheep breeder
Member
Sponging ewes for over 20 years for first January lambing, removal and introduction of ram for evening/ night service and rams stay with ewes for 7 days to avoid handling, we use to split sponge on 12/14 days to help rams and now using more ram power with all rams with age and no lambs used. Just finding sponges not working as well as before and talking to other breeders they are finding the same problems. Just seeing what other people think, never have used cidrs. Sponges and pms were hard got last year.
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
I would suggest that most breeds would require P.M.S.G for 1st January lambing and possibly melatonin for ewes and maybe even the tups. The days are still pretty long at the proposed time of conception.